Welcome
to
Crewmember
The Great Lakes PeopleYour Great Lakes Super
Store

The Loss of The Linda-E.

On December 11, 1998, the Linda-E., a 42-foot commercial
fishing boat, disappeared without a trace on Lake Michigan. The weather
was sunny and clear, and the waters were calm. It's three-man crew, all
experienced fishermen, were never heard from again.

For the next year and a half, the disappearance of the
Linda-E. became one of the Lake Michigan's great modern mysteries.
Extensive search efforts failed to provide a clue; no wreckage was ever
washed ashore or discovered on the water. Although it was presumed that
that Linda-E. had met a terrible fate, there was not conclusive proof of
what had happened, There was only speculation - that, plus the agonizing
questions that remained in the hearts and minds of the three men's
families and friends.

Finally, in June 2000, the Linda-E. was discovered,
resting upright in more than 250 feet of water, not far from where she was
suspected of going down. The story of the Linda-E.'s discovery is amazing
in itself, involving the ceaseless efforts of the family members to keep
the search alive; the intervention of Green Bay Congressman Mark Green,
who took a personal interest in the families' plight and worked tirelessly
to bring the case to closure; and the U.S. Nave, which dispatched
mine-sweepers to Lake Michigan, leading to the eventual discovery.

In the months following the discovery of the Linda, the Coast
Guard conducted and expansive investigation into the tragedy,
concluding in an October 2000 report that the Linda-E. had been
rammed by a barge, sinking in a matter of seconds, before the men on
board could sound an alarm or escape. The Coast Guard report
concluded that it was entirely possible, if not likely, that the
enormous barge could have plowed into the much smaller boat without
any knowledge that the collision had occurred.

"The Loss of the Linda-E." Southport Video's
fourteenth documentary on Great Lakes shipwrecks, examines this compelling
story to the tiniest detail, from the day of the fishing boat's
disappearance to the filing of the Coast Guard report. Stunning underwater
video footage shows the Linda-E. as she is today, battered but in one
piece on the floor of Lake Michigan, while Great Lakes historians and
those involved in the search for the Linda-E. offer accounts and theories
on how the tragedy occurred.

But this is not so much the story of the loss of a fishing
vessel as it is an account of the lives and dreams of the three men
involved- Captain Leif Weborg and crewmen Warren Olson, Jr. and Scott
Matta - who lost their lives while working a job they truly loved. All
three are memorialized in the gripping testimony of their family members,
their stories ultimately symbolizing the ageless take of life and loss on
the Great Lakes.